Spinning-top



A. D. CONVERSE.

SPINNING TOP. I APPLICATION FILED JUNE l5| l9l8.

1 324,997. Patented Dec. 16, 1919.

fizventor:

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1 SPINNING-Tor.

Application filed June 15, 1918. Serial No. 240,145.

To all whom it may concern: 7 1

Be it known that I, ATHERTON D. CON- vnnsn, a citizen. of the United States, and

resident of WVinchendon, h/llassachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvemerits in Spinning-Tops, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the class of spining tops in which a spring is wound by turning the body and a handle in'relation to each other. Such forms of tops have been used with ratchet means for holding the spr ng 111 its wound or partially wound condition until it is desired to spin the top, an

example of this type being shown in Lettersv Patent of the United States granted to I Schoell, No. 1,253,195, or such tops have been proposed for use without ratchet means, as

. in the patent of Haag June2l, 1891, No.

$53,473, but in this form of top it. requires the use of both hands not only to wind but to hold the parts in the wound-uprelation The invention'is shown'in the accompany.

ing drawing, in which, i

igure 1 is a verticalsectional view. Fig. 2 is a top plan view;

. Fig- 3 is a detail of a modified arrange-- ment of spinning pin.

The body consists of an upper sheet metal shell-l, and a lower shell section 2 united by turnin a flange 3 of the lower shell section onto tr e flange of the upper shell.

A spindle 4: is journaled in the body, its

lower end having a socket receiving the up per extension of the pin 5 This pin is suitably united to the body, being shouldered at 6 to bear on a washer 6' on the lower side of the shell and the'lower end of this pin furnishes the-spinning point.

There is also an interior washer 6". At its upper end the spindle passes through an opening in the top of the shell, and at, this point the spindle is reduced forming a shoulder 7, which bears on the underside of the top of the shell and thus the spindle is Specification of Letters Patent.

which it lies.

'; Patented Dec; 16, 1919.

I held against longitudinal displacement'upwardly while downward longitudinaldisplacement relative tothe body is prevented by the lower end of the spindle resting over thetop of'the pin 5, as above described. The winding spring is attached to the body 3 or shell at its upperend, and at its lower end it is united with the spindle, so that the spindle with the spring is assembled with the upper shell section as one body and only the spinning pin isassembled with the-lower shell section. In completing the assembly it is only necessary to place the upper shell,

with, the spindle handle and spring, carried thereby, in engagement. with-the lower shell section, so. that its horizontally extending flange will rest on the shoulder within the flange 3 of the lower'shell and then by bending this flange over onto the flange of the upper shell the connection will be completed.

-The upper end of the spindlecarries a handle portion which may'consistof a knob 8 fixed thereto byra pin or otherwise. v

This handle'may be slightly tapered downwardly sothat the fingers that grasp it will be so positioned that their tips willv press down upon the upper 'surface'of the adjacent portion of the body or shell of the top and the fingers will thus act as the detent means to hold the body; against rotation under the pressure of the spring in the-spinning direction. 7 The spindle, as before stated, is held against longitudinal displacement in relation to the body and'consequently the handle or knob is maintained in a fixed or definite position relative to the adjacent surface of the body, except of; course that the handle can rotate, in the plane in In other words the handle has no displacement in the direction of its axis and consequently'the fingers which, grasp it by reaching down along its sides and below. the same can engage with certainty and with the desired degree of pressure upon the surface of the body and thus'act as detent means. The handle is:.preferably substantially circular in form though it may have fiat-spots 011 its periphery-to-insure ab'etter hold. It is of suflicient depth to'pr'esent a comparatively wide peripheral surface at all points to afford a proper extent of gripping surface for thefingers,-and 'it is of sufficient diameter to afford a bearingsurface or periphery tobe gripped b th ree fingers, the thumb, index and secon finger, and also its diameter is such that these fingers will-- be comfortably separated and the points 1 at which they bear on the top of the shell will be substantially evenly spaced or distributed at say 120 apart and a natural grasping action of the fingers will be provided for,-

and by providing such a handle which will insure engagement of the fingers with the top of the body at widely separated points located a considerable distance out from the axis of the top a long leverage is afforded opposing the tension of the spring, and a comparatively slight pressure of the fingers thereby can be lighter than with a short stiff spring and furthermore the spring takes a longer time in unwinding and thus the user does not have to exercise the same degree of care in letting go in order to get a proper splnnlng action. In other words 111- stead of letting go suddenly to get the kick of the spring he can let go more gradually as the spring will still have power therein after it starts to unwind. This is especially desirable because the top will be used mostly by small children, who naturally will not be so exact as to the manner of releasing the handle.

I have stated above thatthe handle may have flat spots on its edge or periphery. It may be formed of shapes other than circular, such as square, octagonal, or the like, but in these cases like that illustrated it presents an edge to be grasped by the fingers, said edge lying in a substantially horizontal plane and extending about the vertical axis of. the top, so that the fingers engagingthis edge at different points about the handle and ex tending down therefrom will engage or bear upon the permanently positioned. juxtaposed surface of the body to act as detents for holding the latter against rotation in the spinning direction, while the top is being wound in the hands, and also while the top is being .placed'in position by one hand. The spinning pin instead of' being formed as shown in Fig. 1 and carried by the lower section of the shell may be carried'by the spindle itself, as'shown in Fig.3at 5*. This pin is in effect a part of the spindle being driven into the spindle and extending down therefrom through the central opening in tlie'lowe'r'shell to be exposed below said shell,

andto bear on the surface supporting the top in spinn ng.

"One advantage of this construction is that thespinning point, spindle and spring, or

in'othe'r words all of the parts of the top,

excepting the lower section of the shell are assembled or combined as one body and this assembly is effected before the sections of the shell are secured together, so that in. completing the top after the various parts are assembled in connection with the upper section of the shell it is only necessary to thread the lower section of the shell onto the spinning pin, and then unite the two sections by their flanges.

There is another advantage which accrues from the spinning pin just described in that there is less friction because the bearing at'the spinning pin between it and the lower section of the shell is only that which arises from the thickness of the tin.

in the construction shown in Fig. 1, however, the spindle turned on that portion of the pin which projected up into the socket thereof. The less friction the top has when it is performing its backward or spinning movement, as to its body in relation to the spindle, the greater speed it will attain and the longer it will continue spinning and in the form of top shown in my application filed June 13, 1918, No. 239,772, in which a ratchet is employed between the end of the spring and the spindle the longer it will continue to rotate while being held in the hand and therefore the easier it will be to get the top onto the table or other surface and start its spinning on time. This construction of the spinning pin carried by and inserted in the spindle is less expensive to make and is more durable than a construction such as shown in Fig. 1, in which the spinning pin is secured to the thin material of the lower section of the shell.

What I claim is 1. A spinning top comprising a body, a spindle mounted therein, a spring connected to the spindle and body to be wound by relatively turning said parts, said spindle having a winding handle above said body held against axial displacement relative to the body, and in juxtaposition thereto, presenting a laterally directed edge portion xtending substantially uniformly about the vertical axis to be grasped by the fingers, substantially uniformly at all points, which edge portion overlies the surface of the body, enabling the fingers extending down from said edge portion to bear on said permanently positioned juxtaposed surface to act as detents for holding the body against rotation in the spinning direction'as the top is being wound, while supported in the hands, and while the'top'is being placed by the one hand in position to spin, substan tia'll'v as described.

'QIALspin ning top having a body, a spine extending through the bottom of the body I to project therefrom, substantially as described.

3. A spinning top having a body composed of upper and lower sections united together, a spindle within the body, a spring, a handle for the spindle and a spinning pin carried by the spindle and extending through the lower section of .thebody, the said spindle, spring, handle and spin ning pin all being assembled with the up-V per section of the body, substantially as described. i

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

ATHERTON D. CONVERSE. 

